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NX class
The NX class was the first class of starship built with the warp five engine, thereby enabling Humanity's first steps of exploration beyond its neighboring star systems. Serving in the Earth Starfleet, the first ship of the NX class was ''Enterprise'', commissioned in 2151. The second ship, ''Columbia'', was commissioned in 2154. This class likely served as inspiration for the design of the later Akira class starships. History The NX class was the first Earth Starfleet starship equipped with a Human-built propulsion system able to achieve Warp 5. Before finally being commissioned, the ship was conceived of over thirty years at the Warp Five Complex: a research and development site on Earth, where Henry Archer and Zefram Cochrane, among others, worked on the creation of the Warp Five engine. (ENT: "Broken Bow") The first vessel of the class built was the Enterprise (NX-01), with three more on the drawing board. (ENT: "Fortunate Son") NX-01 Enterprise Enterprise was launched from drydock on April 12, 2151 under the command of Captain Jonathan Archer. The launch occured three weeks ahead of schedule because of the need of Earth to return the Klingon Klaang to his homeworld in time to receive proper medical care. The early launch was strongly protested by the Vulcans, who believed Humanity was not ready to explore space. Ambassador Soval managed to wrangle a concession from Starfleet, forcing the placement of Subcommander T'Pol on Enterprise in exchange for Vulcan star charts. (ENT: "Broken Bow") The early launch of Enterprise meant that it left spacedock somewhat unprepared: its spatial torpedoes were uncalibrated and its phase cannons weren't even installed. The spatial torpedoes were calibrated in the heat of battle in May 2151 (ENT: "Fight or Flight"); the ship only survived because of the intervention of the Axanar. The phase cannons were not installed until September 2151 while Enterprise battled an unknown enemy. (ENT: "Silent Enemy") After the Xindi attack on Earth in March 2153, Enterprise was recalled home. Arriving on April 24th, she was refitted and upgraded with the new photonic torpedoes, a Universal Translator update, and a new command center. She was relaunched on a new mission to the Delphic Expanse to search for the Xindi superweapon. (ENT: "The Expanse") The search for the Xindi was long and perilous, taking almost a year. In February 2154, Enterprise determined the location of the Xindi weapon and arrived in the Azati Prime system (ENT: "Azati Prime"). There the ship suffered severe damage due to multiple attacking Xindi ships. The primary warp coil was destroyed, damage that required drastic actions on the part of Captain Archer to repair. (ENT: "Damage") Enterprise accomplished its mission to destroy the Xindi weapon and was returned to Earth by a Xindi-Aquatic cruiser following the end of the mission, though it made a slight detour to an alternate timeline's 1944 with the help of Daniels, where the vessel's crew managed to stop Vosk and bring an end to the Temporal Cold War. (ENT: "Zero Hour", "Storm Front, Parts I and "II") For another 7 years, Enterprise continued to serve the Earth Starfleet before its decommission in 2161. (ENT: "These Are the Voyages...") NX-02 Columbia At the time of the Xindi attack on Earth in 2153, the second NX class starship, the ''Columbia'', was still under construction. In November 2154, the Columbia was launched under the command of Captain Erika Hernandez. (ENT: "Affliction") Compared to the class prototype, Enterprise, Columbia's hull polarization was improved by 12%. Furthermore, she possessed ventral and dorsal photonic torpedo launchers as well as pulsed phase cannons. Another improvement was that the bridge stations were directly tied into the primary EPS junction. (ENT: "Home") ]] In November 2154, the Columbia was stuck in dry dock with engine trouble, delaying her launch, and rendering her unable to assist the Enterprise during the hunt for the Romulan drone-ship. (ENT: "United") In late-2154, the vessel's engine troubles were fixed upon the transfer of Enterprise engineer Charles Tucker to the Columbia, allowing the vessel to be launched in November that year. (ENT: "Affliction") Technical Data Kung Pao warpdrive unit Earlier protypes in the NX series served as the testbed for the experimental Kung Pao warpdrive unit, capable of reachin speeds of well over warp 16 when powered by large enough amounts of chicken. Physical arrangement The NX class consisted of a habitable saucer module that contained seven decks (Lettered A- through G-deck) and a symmetrical warp field governor located just aft of the saucer section, that regulated the warp field shape that would otherwise break apart at higher warp factors. Two half-decks were inserted between D- and E-deck, as well as between E- and F-deck. These contained plasma conduits and access tunnels. Propulsion systems NX class ships achieved warp flight through two warp nacelles, which housed multiple pairs of warp coils. Maximum speed was warp 5.06, the NX class being the first Earth vessel to achieve that speed. Standard cruising speed was warp 4.5 (ENT: "Broken Bow" and "Babel One"). There were two fairing impulse engines, mounted on the aft of the pylons leading to the warp nacelles. Tactical systems Initially, the NX class was fitted with pulse plasma cannons, spatial torpedoes and phase cannons. Later, the NX class weapons were upgraded with photonic torpedoes and pulsed phase cannons. The defensive systems of the NX class were not as advanced as other races. Instead of deflector shields and tractor beams the NX class was equipped with polarized hull plating and grapplers. The NX class had a navigational deflector mounted on the front of the saucer module. The deflector is essential for space flight, as it deflects space debris, asteroids, microscopic particles and other objects that might collide with the ship. Shuttlecraft systems Located mainly on E Deck was the launch bay. The pressurized sector of the bay - limited to E Deck - contained the launch bay control room, while the launch bay itself on F Deck was where the two shuttlepods were docked. A magnetic docking arm extended from the launch bay's ceiling to lower or raise a shuttlepod upon arrival or departure of the craft.(ENT: "Broken Bow" and "Fight or Flight") Interior Design *'A Deck': Bridge, situation room,situation table, Captain's Ready Room, warp nacelles. *'B Deck': Crew quarters, energy distribution systems, sensors, nacelle access tunnels. *'C Deck': Crew quarters, upper observation deck, deuterium tanks, plasma chamber, gymnasium. *'D Deck': Crew quarters, guest quarters, Main Engineering, Transporter room, Decon. *'E Deck': Captain's quarters, mess hall, movie theater, executive quarters, Sickbay, launch bays, science labs, navigational deflector, navigation control thrusters, impulse engines, escape pods, docking ports. *'F Deck': Armory, forward torpedo room, lower observation deck, escape pods, phase cannons, launch bay doors. *'G Deck': Sensor arrays, grapplers. Command Bridge The bridge is the nerve-center of every starship. Circular in shape, the commanding officer of an NX class starship sat in the center of the room, surrounded by the duty stations of their science and communications officers to the left, the Helmsman in front, and the Security chief and Chief Engineer (or another Engineering officer) to the right. All officers faced the main viewscreen, mounted against the forward bulkhead of the bridge. To the aft of the bridge was the situation room, which served as an informal briefing room to the senior staff. (ENT: "Broken Bow") Upgrades The bridge of the second NX class starship launched, ''Columbia'', featured additional columns near the helm and behind the captain's chair. (ENT: "Affliction") These were later added to Enterprise and had been installed by 2161. (ENT: "These Are the Voyages...") Crew quarters The 87 crew quarters aboard the NX class starships were located on Decks B through E. Very few quarters had a view of space (usually those of the higher-ranked officers). The structure and materials of the ship did not allow large transparent surfaces exposed to space; therefore there were only a few small windows throughout the entire ship. On D and G Deck, there were special quarters for guests visiting an NX class starship. (ENT: "Cold Front" and "Babel One") Corridors NX class corridors were made of a metallic structure. They were characterized by circular section separations, for evident mechanical equilibrium reasons. Throughout the corridors, communication panels were mounted on the walls. (ENT: "Broken Bow") Engineering Located on D Deck was the Engine Room of the NX class starship. The NX was the first Human starship to carry a warp reactor capable of speeds up to Warp 5. After exiting the core, and before being injected into the nacelles, warp plasma was accelerated in the two plasma injectors. Transporter room In the time of the NX class, the transporter was usually used for cargo transportation only, although it was capable of transporting people. Most, however, were afraid of the device, limiting its use to emergency situations only. (ENT: "Broken Bow") Mess hall and Theatre Located on E Deck was the ship's mess hall, which was occassionally used as a movie theatre. The mess could seat approximately forty people at a time at ten rectangular metallic tables. Beverages and simple dishes were available from protein re-sequencers on the walls, while elaborate dishes were prepared in the ship's galley. Sickbay Sickbay was located on Deck E of the NX class. In the centre of the room was an operation table, while additional beds were located alongside the walls. The sickbay facility also included a medical laboratory. (ENT: "A Night in Sickbay") Armory Although weapons are not primarily kept in the Armory of the NX class, the ship possesses a total of fourteen weapons lockers. (ENT: "Acquisition") Ships commissioned *''Enterprise'' (NX-01) *''Columbia'' (NX-02) *At least two more were planned. :If the names of the NX class ships continued to match the names of the vehicles from the U.S. Space Shuttle Program, possible names for the other NX-class ships could be ''Challenger and Discovery.'' *Mirror Universe NX-class ships: ** [[ISS Enterprise (NX-01)|ISS Enterprise]] (NX-01) ** [[ISS Avenger|ISS Avenger]] (NX-09) Retirement The NX-class was retired in 2161 due to the development of a new warp 7 ship (ENT: "These Are the Voyages..."). :It appears likely that this ship was the Daedalus class, however, it was not mentioned by name in These Are the Voyages.... Appendices Appearances * ''Star Trek: Enterprise References * ENT: ** "Fortunate Son" ** "First Flight" ** "The Expanse" ** "E²" ** "Home" ** "United" ** "The Aenar" ** "Affliction" ** "In a Mirror, Darkly" Category:Earth starship classes Category:Mirror universe de:NX-Klasse es:Clase NX fr:Classe NX